Friday, 22 February 2013

22/02: BOOZE CRUISE, BIRDHOUSE AND UPDATE

One of the advantages of living on the Kent coast is our proximity to the Ports at Dover and Folkestone so getting to France by train or by ferry is fast and simple for us.

Yesterday afternoon we did a 'booze cruise' to stock up on wine although as we travelled by 'Le Shuttle' train under the Channel I guess strictly speaking it wasn't a 'cruise'.

I was amused by the signs at the entry point in France ... I didn't realise transportation of Ferrets was so popular!


Not a great photo as I took a quick snap through the car window as we were driving to the passport kiosk.

But, checking it on the internet today it seems that ferrets were included in the 'Pet Travel Scheme' back in 2004 and I believe that is because these are all carnivorous pets - different rules apply to bunnies and hampsters etc.     There you go .... learn something new every day LOL

Whilst shopping I picked up a cute little bird nestbox and added it to the trolley.   Its not very practical with all those little felt flowers trimming the roof - but the rest is wooden so once the flowers have dropped off or been used as nesting material (??!!) its a fairly standard birdbox design.

OK,  so its a bit 'girly' but really I think we should give the lady blue tits a treat.    I read that the males will lure potential mates to nestboxes but the ladies have the final say and may reject any number of sites before settling on a favourite.  And who can blame them?   They lay an egg a day and may lay up to 16 eggs in total - phew!   She has to make pretty sure she's picked a good mate as she will rely on him to bring her food when she's incubating the eggs.   So why shouldn't she demand a lovely house??

Well, that's my justification anyway.





Cute eh?

But the best bit of all ......... when David checked the receipt this morning he couldn't find mention of this purchase at all.  I've had a look and I don't think we've been charged for it.     Too late and too far to go back so the birdies have got a freebie it seems!

Its VERY cold here in Kent.  Apparently the wind is coming from Siberia and there is no moisture in it which is making the cold really bite.  So I won't be hanging the bird box till it warms up a little and the snow stops.  So far today we've only had a light dusting of the white stuff and fingers crossed it won't come to much.  We have a high of 2degC forecast for today (low of -2deg) but the wind chill factor is making it feels far colder than that.   Our friends on Fuerteventura are complaining that the weather has turned cooler there - but they've got 21deg (in the shade) which is around 70degF I think ... I know where I'd rather be LOL

OK - latest update on the family group portrait.  I must try to get a better photo tomorrow morning as I'm at the stage now where I need guidance from my client but I'm struggling to get an accurate/colour photo today as it has been so cloudy and gloomy.  This is a bit dark/drab but basically I've been strengthening the colours and adding freckles etc so no major adjustments ... just lots of minor tweaks




3 comments:

  1. there is a lady that takes her ferret for a walk around town, has a little harness and it slinks down the sidewalk. its pretty cute :)

    the portrait looks great :D looks like a very happy family

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  2. Pretty birdhouse, but I would remove the bird, birds can react to such things. We used to have plastic hummingbird shapes on our sliding doors in the States to stop the birds crashing into the windows.

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  3. Wow, that is a cute and very showy birdhouse! What female bird wouldn't be happy with that especially since you evidently got it free.

    The portrait is looking good & I'm sure you'll get in the mood to finish it quickly! (Besides, I have the whip!)

    ReplyDelete

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